A reader reveals the five things he enjoyed most about gaming in 2016, from beating Shovel Knight to playing a lot of Doom.

I’ll be honest, I was disappointed with 2015. There weren’t many games released in that year that appealed to me, nor did I manage to play through many games. I was in a bit of a gaming lull. 2016 on the other hand I have found to be a lot more enjoyable on the gaming front, with releases that appealed to my tastes and being able to get through some of my backlog. I thought it would be a great opportunity to share some of my favourite gaming moments from the year.

1. Exploring the Hitman Paris level
I was one of the few people that enjoyed Hitman Absolution, so I was interested in the new Hitman to begin with. The previews sounded good and the way they were deciding to release the game didn’t worry me either, as I could see how it would benefit the game. I loaded the game up to find a game that took the best bits from Hitman Absolution in the hints system and applied it to a much more expanded level, in both terms of size and opportunities. The amount of ways you could perform the kills was quite remarkable and I spent a huge number of hours completing all the challenges, making it quite a bargain in terms of time played compared to how much it cost.

2. Platinum-ing Batman: Arkham Knight
Last Christmas I received Batman: Arkham Origins. as it was the only Arkham game I hadn’t played. I finished it that Christmas, and thought I would go back into Arkham Knight to complete the combat and Predator challenges whilst I still had the feel for the combat.

I only go back to platinum games I have enjoyed and that have deep gameplay mechanics to get stuck into, Arkham Knight fit that bill and I found it a very rewarding platinum trophy to achieve. It’s not my favourite Arkham game but the combat was still impeccable.

3. The Shovel Knight final boss
After playing up to the first boss in Shovel Knight, I didn’t think I would end up enjoying the game as much as I did. I found the controls frustrating to begin with and thought the game was too hard. I stuck with it though, due to the praise it had received, and I was not disappointed. The final boss level I think highlights why Shovel Knight is so good.

It is where you must face every boss you have faced so far in the game, one after another without dying. Each was tough to face on their own, so when I saw what I had to do, I thought there would be no chance. This is where you have to truly learn the mechanics of Shovel Knight inside out, and learn each boss’ moves and patterns like the back of your hand. It requires patience but it was very rewarding when I did it.

4. Doom, Doom, and more Doom
Baring a late charge by another game over Christmas, I think Doom will be my game of the year. It truly is unlike no other shooter in that you must be aggressive, staying in cover will get you killed. There are so many aspects of Doom that are utterly brilliant, the combat, the soundtrack, the graphics, even the story wasn’t that bad if you dug a little deeper into the lore.

My favourite Doom-related highlight of this year though was the NoClip YouTube documentary about the new game, hosted by Danny O’Dwyer. The three-part series provided a very interesting look into how the game was developed and gave reasons as to why the game was in development hell for such a long time. A thoroughly engrossing watch with great production values.

5. Building a gaming PC
The reveal of PS4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio made me revaluate my position of being a console gamer. For me, I preferred the idea of upgrading a gaming PC every few years, rather than having to buy a mid-generation console upgrade. I also thought it may be cheaper in the long run with PC games tending to be cheaper. I thought about buying a pre-built PC, but I did my research instead and had more fun in the end building my PC from scratch, it also ended up being cheaper. It’s something I already wrote a Reader’s Feature about should anyone wish to read into my experience in more detail.

I go into 2017 very optimistic about gaming. I’m hoping the game I’ll be playing Christmas morning, Planet Coaster will live up to my expectations and provide me with lots of enjoyment over the course of next year, given how Frontier Developments has supported Elite: Dangerous since its release. There is Red Dead Redemption 2 to look forward to and I’m hoping that VR will take off. Plus, there is always the stuff we don’t know about to look forward to.